“I’m not really an idiot, but I play one on radio/TV/Twitter.” That, one supposes, would be the explanation for the opening salvo against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, and Ann Coulter have decided that the strongest play to make against the nominee is to declare her a “racist.”

We all understand that a proper functioning of a representative government requires that there be a loyal opposition to parry the inevitable overreaching of the party that temporarily holds the reins of government. What some of us seem not to understand is that the meaning of the limiting term “loyal” excludes the bandying about of utterly unfounded, meaningless, wanton character assassination that has become second nature to those whose entire being seems to have been poisoned by the easy route to notoriety, book sales, and very high lecture fees.

Like almost every other American citizen (including, I’d be willing to bet, Newt, Rush, and Ann), I have not examined Judge Sotomayor’s various opinions rendered from the bench, but I would be very surprised if I did not disagree with some of them. Is this a disqualification for the top prize in the judge biz? I suspect that the only person with whom I would have no disagreement whatever, on any topic, would be me. And I suspect that the same is true for you and for Newt and Rush and Ann.

Can I see a show of hands on this proposition: A proper nominee for the Supreme Court ought to agree with (your name) on every possible issue that (your name) might conceivably raise. If you raised your hand, you may have a promising career in talk radio.

Some Republicans are now calling attention to Judge Sotomayor’s having mentioned in a speech some years ago a few of her favorite foods – foods of a kind that we proper white folks like to call “ethnic,” as though cheeseburgers, Cheerios, and Chips Ahoy weren’t – in a way that suggests that she suffers from a potentially disqualifying disability called subjectivity. The allegation is that she is not, as a judge, a wholly disembodied, purely rational spirit whose judgments are unaffected by any human experiences she may have had off the bench. This, too, will likely make an impression on the lackwit constituency. Others, though, may wish to consider how they would view a candidate who claimed to be able to completely transcend both the lessons and the limits of his or her experience here in the world. (My fellow nerds may also call to mind various scenes from science fiction featuring computers with annoying voices as “judges.”)

And – this one’s a pip – some so-called conservatives object to placing the stress on the final syllable of the judge’s surname. Too un-something not quite specifiable.

For those of you who aren’t lackwits, here’s an idea: Let’s stop paying attention to the loud idiots, as it only encourages them. They are in show business, whereas most of the rest of us are engaged in the serious business of life. They have no role but to shout outrageous things in public, tickling a few but embarrassing the majority of their fellow citizens. Nothing can be done, it seems, about the fact that there is a large enough audience for such claptrap to generate quite nice revenues for their sponsors and very tidy incomes for the owners of the biggest mouths. But why should the rest of us take any notice? These are trying times, as all times are, and they call for serious people. Grownups. You. Me.